
In this article we’ll break down every mainline Metroid installment in chronological order, covering their basic plot elements and explaining in detail how each game leads into the next. Don’t know where the Metroid timeline begins and ends? You’ve come to the right place. After all, by the time Metroid Dread launches for Nintendo Switch on October 8, it will have been a staggering 19 years since Samus was asked to save the galaxy in 2002’s Metroid Fusion. You’d be forgiven for not knowing all of that, though. The adventures of intergalactic bounty hunter Samus Aran are actually connected and impact one another in ways that you just don’t see in even Nintendo’s most celebrated series.

In addition to being one of the most underserved first-party Nintendo franchises, Metroid is also one of the few Nintendo franchises to have a strong, consistent, and cohesive narrative canon.
